It turns out there are people who will write default block (“policy DROP”) style rules (instead of the using a default “policy ACCEPT” and ending with REJECTs/DROPs at the end that match everything). If the default policy is not ACCEPT, then clearing the rules will immediately remove your ssh access to the machine.

The lack of a default “policy REJECT” is one reason you will see more “policy ACCEPT” – because then, at the end, you can choose between REJECT or DROP. If you write your rules “in the other direction”, you loose the flexibility to choose – you must DROP. There are numerous posts on why DROP is not necessarily better than REJECT. (“Attackers don’t really feel any pain with DROP, but your legitimate users sure do”.)